tabularasa_rp | 002 - Growing Pains

Entry tags:

002 - Growing Pains

Growing Pains State of the World ▲ Locations ▼ Bestiary
OOC ▲ Comments A Light In The Darkness
Light seems to have been especially tricky for the world to comprehend, but it finally, finally seems to have figured things out. Light comes from more than just the sky, and now signs and lamps that were once dark have begun to glow brightly. From the Wall Market's dazzling exhibition of color to the dimmed street lamps of the City of Tears, the whole world has been made bright and lively once more without losing the comfort and tranquility that darkness brings. Even the broken screens of the Hammerlocke Stadium give off a pleasant glow, and the world doesn't seem to care that some lights need electricity to stay on - lights are simply lights, as far as the world seems concerned.

Unfortunately, these new lights are a little too simple. Without any need for a power source, there's no way to turn the lights off - if something is deemed a light source, it will always function as a light source. The only way to stop it is to destroy the object beyond recognition, but that might not be the most practical solution. Covering up the lights is the next best thing, but it's a task that's easier with some sources than others. At least no one needs to sleep yet.

Difficulties aside, now seems like the perfect time to start exploring all those new corners of the world that were previously too dark to navigate. Fire is an easy, safe and portable light source that anyone can use, and it even puts itself out after awhile. Just be careful not to get stuck in the dark by a stray breeze.

▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲
Who's Hungry?
Animals need to eat. People need to eat. These are simple facts that people lost in the strange, changing landscape all seem to be well aware of, yet appear to not apply to this world. That is not to say that people can’t eat or drink, for many people do, but there is no actual need. Eating provides nothing but the knowledge that one has eaten, and anyone might go without food entirely. Lately, some might have found eating has become more satisfying and fulfilling an act, as though food is providing them with a vaguely-defined something they didn’t get before. It doesn’t seem to mean much in the grand scheme of things, but perhaps it allows them some sense of normality.

When hunger sets in, it’s sudden. Every person, whether or not they ever needed to eat in their homeland, is hit with a powerful, overwhelming sense of hunger, to the point it feels that if they do not eat they will soon starve. Those who have never eaten in all their time here might easily find themselves so hungry they can barely even move, and have little choice but to eat. Fortunately, food is plentiful. If it can be put in the mouth, chewed and swallowed, it is food, and thus will give a person temporary relief from their hunger. What goes in does not appear to come out, instead simply becoming part of that person and revitalizing them. How long it takes to feel hungry again seems entirely random, and each time there is no lead up - someone is either fine, or they are starving, without any in-between.

▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲
Starving Mad Beasts
When people suddenly remember hunger, so too do the animals of the world. For some creatures this isn't an issue - the tall-necked beasts continue to graze on the treetops like they always have, and the smaller creatures seem content with snacking on whatever small scraps they can find. Not all creatures are so easily satisfied, however, and the more aggressive ones have turned to attacking other species for food.

The vicious water dragons are quick to clamp their mouths on anything within reach... but, lacking teeth, this doesn't amount to much. Still, they're as persistent as ever, and in a way their inability to viciously devour their prey only makes them more dangerous. These beasts are starving, and for all their skill in chasing down prey they can do little to actually eat their catch, which means they're constantly on the hunt and out to get anything that moves. Perhaps it might even be a good idea to help them out, if feeding the fish might make them a little less aggressive.

The machines are far better equipped for hunting, and all the more dangerous now that they're hungry enough to take a bite out of someone. Death is not a concept the world understands, so it's not like they're doing any permanent harm, but it's still a bit unnerving to see animals limping by with bite-sized chunks taken out of them. They haven't had a taste of people yet, but it doesn't seem like it'll be long before they try.

▲▼▲▼▲▼▲▼▲
Mushroom Hunting
Mushrooms are a new sight within the world, and a perfect snack to satisfy that sudden debilitating hunger! Harvesting them can be a bit of a problem, however. For one, they are massive, and the task of cutting one down and breaking it into edible chunks is made much easier with a group of people than one person working alone. Finding the mushrooms in their dark habitats may also be difficult... although, it is much easier to spot a mushroom the size of an entire person compared to something much smaller.

The real problem with mushroom hunting is where they can grow, which is nearly anywhere indoors. Though light now comes from other sources besides the sky, there are still buildings with dark corners that might suddenly acquire a giant mushroom or two (or three, or four) if left alone. And if those mushrooms are allowed to remain, they may just continue to grow, and grow, and grow...

So, if you don't want giant mushrooms bursting through your roof, it might be a good idea to keep an eye out for them before that happens.

back to top

code bases by tricklet

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A. Food
(Lemon Cello Church)

Shortly after the world changes once again, Bowser can be found hiding in the corner of the Lemon Cello church, messily devouring entire cakes. If approached, he turns around, with cake residue covering his hands and face. "What?!" he asks demandingly, before he shoves a piece of another cake into his mouth.

B. Robot Beach
(Takoba Beach)

Having satisfied his hunger, Bowser goes to Takoba Beach to do more exploring. There he sees that, peaking out from below the water is something new. He goes to explore it, when he hears something. He looks to see someone he's previously seen interacting with some Piranha Stubbies. So he approaches the person, keeping his distance, and asks, "Did that Piranha Stubby just... talk?"

C. Playing with Fire
(Mortis Lake)

At least a few hours, and possibly over a day, after the world changed once again, Bowser makes a fire. He's heard from someone, somehow, that fire now exists, and he wants to see what it can do. Of course, the first thing he'd done upon hearing the news was try to breathe fire, to no avail. Nevertheless, he's been experimenting with the fire that does exist, trying to cook things, to burn things, and to see what exactly it does. As he's been there a few "hours," the forest has fluctuated between it's "night" and "day" states a few times, though it's currently "day."

At the moment, he's sticking his hand directly into the flames. He pulls his hand out of the fure and sees that it is now aflame. He stares at it dispassionately for a moment, before simply uttering, "Huh."

D. Home Base
(Heavenly Blanc)

Bowser, now knowing that hunger can come at any time, has not stopped eating. It may even have reached a point that Bowser is becoming a drain on resources. Nevertheless, he sits at his usual spot in the Heavenly Blanc with some food that he's gotten there.

Edited (too much bold) 2020-08-18 05:58 (UTC)

Izuku hasn't had a chance yet to explore all of the newest changes to the world. Fire in particular, though familiar and a relief to have around again, isn't something he treats any differently than he ever has. Fire is fire, after all...and you don't want to get too close to it. Naturally, you'd be burned or worse if you did, right? Even with the way the normal laws of physics just do not always apply here, it doesn't occur to him that this could not be the case solely because fire = hot = don't touch is just...common sense.

So when he happens to be passing through and spots Bowser across the way, a couple things hit him at once. First, he thinks Bowser might be a new creature and not another person brought here like everyone else (somehow, he hasn't seen him until now). At least until he watches from afar for a bit and realizes that no, that probably isn't the case...not when it looks like he built that fire he's standing in front of. Izuku has seen people with mutant Quirks that make them look beastly before- Gang Orca comes to mind- so he's less of a surprise than he could be, even if he is still scary...

But then he watches as Bowser just sticks his hand in the fire, and he can't stop himself from reacting.

"W-wait!! Don't-!"

He lurches forward, though it's not like he could do anything...Bowser is huge, and also it's too late because his hand is on fire. But when he doesn't seem harmed by it, Izuku stops.

"...E...eh?"

Bowser reacts with surprise when someone objects to him setting his hand on fire. Not because that is an unusual reaction, but because he was unaware anyone was there.

"It doesn't burn," he explains after regaining his composure, gesturing with the flaming hand. "It doesn't even hurt. It's pretty warm, but that's it." He looks at his own hand, studying it.

"I've been doing a lot of experiments with this," he says, gesturing at the flames not on his hand. "I don't think this place has fire any more figured out than time or wind." With that said, Bowser walks toward the lake so as to put out the fire on his arm.

It's so unnerving, but...Bowser seems to be right. The flames are licking up his hand, but without actually burning it. It's not enough for Izuku to be brave enough to stick his own hand in the flames, of course, but...almost enough.

Izuku will follow Bowser as he akes his way over to the water, keeping an eye on him just in case those flames suddenly spread. They may not burn him, but that doesn't mean they can't burn other things.

"What kinds of experiments have you been doing?" Izuku asks. "Other than, uh...putting your hands in it, I mean."

Bowser uses the lake water to estinguish the flames covering his hand. "I've been burning stuff, cooking a few things, seeing what wind and water do to it. I've also been looking at what happens to it when this place does it's whole life/death shift thing."

Bowser returns to the fire he hasn't just put out as he continues. "This place's 'fire' doesn't seem like it cares what it's fuel is; it'll use anything. But it doesn't destroy anything you burn with it. The only way to put it out is with the water or waiting for it to die on it's own. The wind can also put it out if it gets bad enough. I'm not sure what we can cook, though." Finally, he adds, "My fire breath still doesn't work like it's supposed to."

It's a smart idea to run tests like that and see how the world behaves to new introductions to it. Izuku has been doing similar himself, trying to keep notes where he can while also talking with others to see what things they have learned that he might have missed. This is going to be added to it, for sure.

"Interesting...I wonder what it's using to keep burning, if it doesn't burn the things it catches onto. Just oxygen, maybe?"

Normally that wouldn't be enough- fire needs kindling to keep going, after all- but it's not like this place really cares about logic. As for Bowser's mention of his fire breathing not working, Izuku at least has some more familiarity with that.

"From what I've been able to tell, from my own experience and asking other people, no powers work right now. My friend Kacchan can make explosions with his hands, and that's not working for him either."

"I don't think it needs oxygen. We don't even need to breathe." And it's true that this place doesn't seem to care about logic.

"None of my powers have worked since I got here. I just thought, since there was fire, I hoped... Never mind."

The amount of people in this place that were supposed to have powers was quite odd, though.

"Most people from your world don't have powers, do they?"

Izuku blinks, then he has to shakes his head with a weak smile.

"Actually...most of them do have powers. It's more common to be born with them than it is to not be, these days."

Though it was the opposite, once upon a time.

"Huh." That was not what Bowser had expected. Bowser's own powers wouldn't be unheard of, in his world. Any creature could theoretically learn to master magic as Bowser had. Still it wasn't common for people to have power anywhere near what Bowser was capable of.

"You think that's the case with all the other dimensions?"

"I think it varies, actually. From what I've gathered, some worlds have things like powers and magic, while others don't have anything like that at all."

It was something he encountered a lot in Fellden too, even though it was more common to find familiar people with powers than not.

(no subject)

koopacrusher - 2020-08-27 23:30 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

mightdoriya - 2020-08-29 00:36 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

koopacrusher - 2020-09-04 04:49 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

mightdoriya - 2020-09-05 00:35 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

koopacrusher - 2020-09-12 04:27 (UTC) - Expand

"Oh, it's that Koopa king-- um, what was it... Bowser!"

Upon entering Heavenly Blanc, Blue cheerfully calls out when he spots Bowser off in his corner, waving. There weren't too many other folks in the cafe it seemed, so Blue invites himself right over and pulls up a chair, without even asking.

He glances around at all the food surrounding Bowser, and bites his lip to try not to laugh. "Boy, you must've been really hungry when everything went down, huh."

"I've survived sinking in lava. I can handle a little hunger," Bowser says, defensively. "This place really knows how to take things from 0 to 100 quickly, though. I just don't want to be caught off-guard again."

Lava, huh? Bowser reminded Blue a bit of a Turtonator and a Blastoise mixed together- he wonders if all Koopa were like him. ~~Maybe normal Koopas evolve into this form...~~

"Mmm, you're right about that. I almost passed out the other-- day?" It's still weird to not think of this place in terms of days. How do you tell point A from point B? "--But Eevee seems to have gotten on just fine!"

"Probably cuz he's been munching away when we've been here. Looks like you guys were the smart ones, huh?"

"Vui!" Eevee ruffles himself up proudly, perched on Blue's shoulder.

"Glad your Pokémon was prepared." Bowser says, sounding irritated, but the subject of his irritation is the new world rather than Blue. "But I'm not happy with the rules changing every few weeks." Bowser wasn't sure if it was weeks or months, though he was pretty sure it was one of the two. "How are we gonna be prepared when the next rule change hits?"

He could prepare for the most predictable rule changes maybe, stay hydrated even though there's no reason to do so, breathe even though there's no need for air. But the idea that the concept of death could return at any moment, and strike as randomly and as suddenly as hunger was frightening.

"Can't say I've been too much of a fan, either."

Blue hums, while Eevee smirks at Bowser haughtily. "I'm not really sure what's going on around here...... If it was a Legendary messing with us or something, I feel like we woulda seen it by now. Or, the changes would make more sense- um, like this stuff is messing with us, but it doesn't seem like they're targeting anyone or anything in particular."

Blue had thought about how weird it was that no one had slept... And then he thought about how scary it would be to just drop unconscious in the middle of the woods somewhere, when there were Pokémon roaming about ravenously hungry that might take advantage.

"I guess we should be more careful about where we go for now, huh? Maybe a buddy system. I've got 'vee and Red, but you got any pals you can take along with you?"

"If it were a Legendary Pokémon, what would it want with all of us people who've never heard of Pokémon? We can all talk about people or Pokémon or demons or gods that might have done this, but unless there's one we can all name, I think it's someone new." Bowser could name his own candidates, but he was pretty sure they were all dead. He was quite sure whoever had created the world was someone he'd never fought before.

"A buddy system..." Bowser repeats. He doesn't like it, but he can't deny that it was a good idea. "There's nobody from my dimension here, or anyone I've met in any other dimensions." Besides this one, of course.

[The trudge of feet alerts him to the presence of another. She walked her way up slowly and had a look at the flames on his hand, frowning when she did. That was ... uh... something, wasn't it? Yeah, definitely something.]

Right, so... this place is either crazy, or you're fire proof.

I wouldn't say I'm completely fireproof. This should at least hurt. [Bowser waves his hand in front of his face, closely observing it.] I think we already knew this place was crazy, though.

Not going to disagree with you there, big guy. Just a little alarming to see it quite so ... visible. Kind of replaces one of those flashlight things with self immolation as a tactic.

Really... really weird.

[The statement appears to make Bowser realize something.] Huh. Good idea, actually. [Bowser suddenly takes off toward Mt. Silver to see if fire can truly produce light in this dimension.]

[She followed, catching on quick. Grabbing a couple rocks just in case she was right in step with Bowser.]

You're thinking of testing this in the caves, right? See if it at least produces light?

Yeah. [Bowser looks back as he speaks, but keeps walking toward the mountain. He hadn't thought to bring extra rocks, but they could be useful.]

[In time, they arrive at the mountain, where Bowser finds a suitable cave entrance.]

If it does, I'm actually going to need to remember this. Relying on my eyes is a pain in the neck, and I don't like trying so hard to use my powers. One of these days they might work.

[When they got to the entrance, at least it seemed to be shedding light into the depths didn't it?]

[Bowser nods, as he holds his hand in front of him to use it as a torch and walks into the cave.] They'd better eventually work.

Wait, you have powers that let you see in the dark? I thought you said all your powers had to do with envy or something.

[She followed in. Yeah, this torch was about a hundred times better than the faint sparkle of her eyes. But, as if to prove what she was about to say, she attempted to use her powers, failing yet again but having her eyes glow a little bit, giving her face an eerie look.]

Not quite. I have powers that let me control envy. My eyes glow a tiny bit when it happens. It barely covers past my hand, so it's really only good for making me spooky, not seeing well.

...

Torch is much better. My powers don't actually work here. Not right. Or if they do, they only work on me. Which is... sort of pointless. I don't get anything out of making myself more envious right now.